Conservation

Conserving the UW Libraries Collections

Each year, Conservation staff repair, bind or make enclosures for an estimated 10,000 items in the UW Libraries.  This care helps to preserve, stabilize or restore the usability of book, paper, and photograph materials.

Conservation staff moved into a purpose-built, 4,000 square-foot Conservation Center in April 2016.  The new facility provides capacity and equipment to better support special collections conservation.  Want to know more? Watch a short video about the Conservation Center or read more about past conservation projects.

Conservation Internship

The UW Libraries offers one 10-week conservation internship each summer.  Learn more about the work our conservation interns have accomplished during their internships. You can also learn more about careers in conservation.

Collaborative Paper and Photograph Conservation

In 2017, the UW Libraries and Henry Art Gallery were awarded a $300,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support the joint appointment of an Associate Conservator for Paper and Photographs for three years.

The Associate Conservator will work with current staff to conserve and enhance access to our significant and inherently delicate collections of photographs and other works on paper as well as contribute to ongoing training, teaching, and outreach to UW departments and heritage institutions in the region.

Building Conservation Capacity in the Pacific Northwest

In October 2012, the Libraries received a $1.25 million challenge grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to fund a new senior conservator position in Preservation Services. The creation of this position has dramatically increased the Libraries capacity to care for the fragile rare books, manuscripts, maps, and drawings in our special collections by allowing the Libraries to perform more complicated conservation treatments in-house. Read more and thank you for your support!